Saturday, April 1, 2017

ESPN Host Wishes Mike&Mike Split Was Handled Differently

Mike Greenberg hasn’t given much thought to life after “Mike & Mike,” but he at least wishes the end of an era had been on their terms.

According to the NY Post, the veteran ESPN personality admitted — not without despair — the reports detailing his and Mike Golic’s breakup are true, a corporate decision that would end the 18-year radio and TV partnership. As much as Greenberg is looking forward to returning to his native New York City and launching his own morning show, the 49-year-old said the way the split was handled hasn’t sat well with him — Sports Illustrated broke the news of their reassignments in mid-January.

“My one regret in all this is if we do break up — and that’s certainly a very real possibility, I’m not denying that at all — I would have really liked the first place our audience heard about that to have been from us,” Greenberg said in an interview with Sporting News published Friday. “Obviously, that’s not a possibility anymore.”

Whenever the Mikes’ divorce becomes reality, neither expects to be included in ESPN’s sweeping layoffs, which have some on-air talent holding their breath.

“Whatever it is that’s going on, I’m not being consulted about it and no one is talking to me about it,” said Greenberg, who joined up in Bristol in 1996. “I honestly don’t know what’s happening. I’ve worked at ESPN for 20 years. I love that place. … If that sort of thing is going to go on, it will make me feel terrible.”

So far, ESPN has refused to comment.

The move to put Greenberg in his own morning show would come as ESPN is planning to undergo another round of layoffs, which will spare behind-the-scenes staff but includes many hosts and reporters whom fans know and recognize.

During an appearance on Richard Deitch’s Sports Illustrated podcast, ESPN expert and bestselling author Jim Miller predicted the network will shed between 40 and 50 on-air personalities during this round of cutbacks.